Blue Jays: Cut short, but mission accomplished for Rowdy Tellez

It sounds like his season is over, but Rowdy Tellez accomplished an important mission in 2020 by establishing himself in the long-term plans for the Blue Jays.

When the 2020 season began, I would argue that there were several players that were in a “make it or break it” year for the Blue Jays, with one of them being first baseman/designated hitter Rowdy Tellez.

The talent has frequently showed up for the lefty-masher, but consistency has been his biggest problem while trying to establish himself in the big leagues. He was going to have to prove himself either way in 2020, but when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. moved over from third to first base, it was clear that Tellez was going to have to earn his playing time.

And that he did.

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It’s a tremendous shame that it looks like Rowdy will spend the rest of the season on the Injured List, or at least that’s what it sounds like according to Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun, who indicated there’s a suspected tendon issue in his injured knee. It doesn’t help the Blue Jays, who are in the midst of a pleasantly surprising post-season push, as they currently sit in 2nd in the AL East. That’s especially the case because Tellez has been on a tear lately, hitting .417/.464/.708 over his last seven games. If he is done the year, his final stat line comes in at .283/.346/.540 with eight home runs, 23 RBI over 113 at-bats.

It’s very unfortunate that he’s been lost in what looked like a breakout stretch, but I would argue that from a personal standpoint, Tellez accomplished what he needed to in 2020. At the start of the year there was no guarantee he would even make the roster, and he left while playing every day and hitting in the middle of the lineup. Like Teoscar Hernandez, who was excellent this year before an injury of his own, you can pretty much write Tellez’s name in ink for the 2021 lineup, and you couldn’t say that a few months ago.

That doesn’t guarantee that the California native will thrive again next year, and we still don’t know how serious his knee injury is, or if he’ll be ready the start of the 2021 campaign. Either way though, he played well enough this year to guarantee himself another opportunity once he’s healthy, and that’s no small thing, especially with this talented young core.

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Tellez proved that at his best, he’s a dangerous left-handed masher to insert somewhere around the middle of the order, and a nice compliment to the other hitters on the roster. Hopefully his injury won’t affect him at all next year and he can get back to being the Rowdy that we all enjoyed this year. That fella can definitely hit, and there will be a place for him in Toronto for quite some time.